diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 3eee237c02691..c91b5ebdf5620 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -506,6 +506,14 @@ run-trace: setup-wsd
 			--o:trace[@enable]=true --o:trace.path=${builddir}/trace.txt.gz \
 			--o:trace.outgoing.record=false
 
+if ENABLE_KITINPROCESS
+run-valgrind-kitinprocess: setup-wsd
+	@echo "Launching coolwsd under valgrind (but not forkit/coolkit, yet)"
+	valgrind --tool=memcheck --tool=massif --trace-children=no -v --read-var-info=yes \
+		./coolwsd $(COMMON_PARAMS) \
+			--o:logging.file[@enable]=false --o:logging.level=error
+endif
+
 run-valgrind: setup-wsd
 	@echo "Launching coolwsd under valgrind (but not forkit/coolkit, yet)"
 	valgrind --tool=memcheck --trace-children=no -v --read-var-info=yes \
diff --git a/common/Util.cpp b/common/Util.cpp
index 1afb88bfbccb0..844d928480c62 100644
--- a/common/Util.cpp
+++ b/common/Util.cpp
@@ -1006,6 +1006,15 @@ namespace Util
 #endif
     }
 
+    bool isKitInProcess()
+    {
+#if KITINPROCESS
+        return true;
+#else
+        return false;
+#endif
+    }
+
     std::map<std::string, std::string> stringVectorToMap(const std::vector<std::string>& strvector, const char delimiter)
     {
         std::map<std::string, std::string> result;
diff --git a/common/Util.hpp b/common/Util.hpp
index 4c0295318daa0..0e0798c3247fa 100644
--- a/common/Util.hpp
+++ b/common/Util.hpp
@@ -1300,6 +1300,8 @@ int main(int argc, char**argv)
      */
     bool isFuzzing();
 
+    bool isKitInProcess();
+
     /**
      * Splits string into vector<string>. Does not accept referenced variables for easy
      * usage like (splitString("test", ..)) or (splitString(getStringOnTheFly(), ..))
diff --git a/config.h.in b/config.h.in
index 131346513cb4a..a20c5e3b77155 100644
--- a/config.h.in
+++ b/config.h.in
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@
 /* Define to 1 if this is a libfuzzer build. */
 #undef LIBFUZZER
 
+#undef KITINPROCESS
+
 /* Default value of feature_lock.locked_commands */
 #undef LOCKED_COMMANDS
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 727278ac9aaa5..4fc54d0297d89 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -192,6 +192,10 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE([androidapp],
                               to work similarly to the iOS app, from the JavaScript and the pseudo WebSocket
                               message plumbing point of view.]))
 
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([kitinprocess],
+              AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-kitinprocess],
+                             [Enable kit in process]))
+
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([android-google-play],
               AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-android-google-play],
                              [When enabled, the app encourages the user periodically to rate the app on Google Play Store.]))
@@ -408,6 +412,7 @@ AS_IF([test "$enable_debug" = yes -a -n "$with_poco_libs"],
       [POCO_DEBUG_SUFFIX=])
 
 ENABLE_DEBUG=false
+ENABLE_KITINPROCESS=false
 ENABLE_DEBUG_PROTOCOL=false
 ENABLE_BUNDLE=true
 COOLWSD_LOGLEVEL="warning"
@@ -454,6 +459,16 @@ if test "$enable_debug" = "yes"; then
     else
       AC_MSG_RESULT([no (to enable --enable-logging-test-asserts)])
     fi
+
+   AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to enable kit in process (default)])
+   if test "$enable_kitinprocess" = "yes"; then
+      KITINPROCESS=true
+      AC_DEFINE([KITINPROCESS],1,[Kit in process is enabled])
+    else
+      KITINPROCESS=false
+      AC_DEFINE([ENABLE_DEBUG],0,[Kit in process is disabled])
+
+    fi
 else
     AC_MSG_RESULT([no (Release build)])
     AC_DEFINE([ENABLE_DEBUG],0,[Whether to compile in some extra debugging support code and disable some security pieces])
@@ -464,6 +479,8 @@ AC_SUBST(COOLWSD_LOGLEVEL)
 AC_SUBST(COOLWSD_LOG_TO_FILE)
 AC_SUBST(BROWSER_LOGGING)
 
+AM_CONDITIONAL([ENABLE_KITINPROCESS], [test "$KITINPROCESS" = "true"])
+
 if test "$enable_debug_protocol" = no; then
    ENABLE_DEBUG_PROTOCOL=false
 fi
diff --git a/kit/ForKit.cpp b/kit/ForKit.cpp
index ca8eabe6ebd92..014a956df7fe6 100644
--- a/kit/ForKit.cpp
+++ b/kit/ForKit.cpp
@@ -548,7 +548,9 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         }
     }
 
-    SigUtil::setFatalSignals("forkit startup of " COOLWSD_VERSION " " COOLWSD_VERSION_HASH);
+    if (!Util::isKitInProcess()) {
+        SigUtil::setFatalSignals("forkit startup of " COOLWSD_VERSION " " COOLWSD_VERSION_HASH);
+    }
 
     if (simd::init())
         simd_deltaInit();
diff --git a/kit/Kit.cpp b/kit/Kit.cpp
index ebd703d32a74c..caccb8041cf70 100644
--- a/kit/Kit.cpp
+++ b/kit/Kit.cpp
@@ -2784,8 +2784,9 @@ void lokit_main(
                 )
 {
 #if !MOBILEAPP
-
-    SigUtil::setFatalSignals("kit startup of " COOLWSD_VERSION " " COOLWSD_VERSION_HASH);
+    if (!Util::isKitInProcess()) {
+        SigUtil::setFatalSignals("kit startup of " COOLWSD_VERSION " " COOLWSD_VERSION_HASH);
+    }
     SigUtil::setUserSignals();
 
     Util::setThreadName("kit_spare_" + Util::encodeId(numericIdentifier, 3));
diff --git a/wsd/DocumentBroker.cpp b/wsd/DocumentBroker.cpp
index 65aa3b2c51eae..b729694c16ca8 100644
--- a/wsd/DocumentBroker.cpp
+++ b/wsd/DocumentBroker.cpp
@@ -1121,13 +1121,15 @@ bool DocumentBroker::download(const std::shared_ptr<ClientSession>& session, con
                     if (inputs != 1 || outputs != 1)
                         throw std::exception();
 
-                    int process = Util::spawnProcess(command, args);
-                    int status = -1;
-                    const int rc = ::waitpid(process, &status, 0);
-                    if (rc != 0)
-                    {
-                        LOG_ERR("Conversion from " << extension << " to " << newExtension << " failed (" << rc << ").");
-                        return false;
+                    if (!Util::isKitInProcess()) {
+                        int process = Util::spawnProcess(command, args);
+                        int status = -1;
+                        const int rc = ::waitpid(process, &status, 0);
+                        if (rc != 0)
+                        {
+                            LOG_ERR("Conversion from " << extension << " to " << newExtension << " failed (" << rc << ").");
+                            return false;
+                        }
                     }
 
                     _storage->setRootFilePath(newRootPath);